by Lisa Brooks

The last day in Lijiang we took a morning walk through the park around Dragon Pearl Lake. The lake is surrounded by gardens and walkways like all the parks we've come across in China. This park has some notable differences. It contains one of the Naxi minority people's sacred places including shrines, pagodas and temples. There is one small temple in the middle of the lake that is called the One Coin Shrine. The story is that a beggar woman wanted to honor the dragon in the lake so she saved the money to build the shrine one coin at a time until she got it built.

We found many examples of traditional Chinese pagodas and gates, but we also found the Naxi cultures' unusual "Dragon Temple" which was actually shaped like a dragon and one walks into its belly! Reminds me of the story of Jonah and the Whale. The Naxi religion seems to be based on a mix of Buddhism strains. There are prayer flags and traditional costumes that reminded me of how close Lijiang is to Tibet. Yet the Naxi have their own very unique written language which is pictographic.

Finally, the most curious fact about the Naxi peoples is that they are a matriarchal society. They have a custom called the "Visiting Marriage" which is where a young woman and man live together in the woman's family home and if they have children they are raised in that home. They are not bound by any legal ceremony and the woman can sever the relationship when she wishes with all the property and child custody staying with her.

Dr. Wu started shouting, "hey!" as we were walking alongside the lake, and then told us if we shouted or clapped our hands the "dragon would send pearls to the surface of the water". We all tried it and sure enough bubbles rose to the surface each time. Mr. Perrin says it was sound waves creating a disturbance that released the air. The pool above is sparkling clean water in which students took the opportunity to wash their hands and splash a little.